SEVEN

It felt like I’d just laid my head down when the alarm went off. I’d set it for 8 a.m., which was the earliest I’d gotten up in a long time. But I had things to do before Betts picked me up to take me to town and if I was going to make good on my promise to clean up the campground, I needed to get a move on it.

My Keurig brewed while I jumped into the shower. I threw on the only pair of jeans I had and a white v-neck T-shirt. It was a very minimal look that I could get used to.

 Without fixing my hair and pulling it up in a ponytail or putting on any more than mascara and a swipe of lip gloss, I had my cup of coffee and I was out the door with the papers Dottie had given me.

The sun was shining, and it made for a perfect morning to walk around the campground and put names from her paper with the campers. The first thing to being an owner, in my opinion, would be to get to know the people who were renting from you and see how much they owed.

I knocked on the door of the Randals They had a yellow and white striped camper with a little awning over a sitting area.

“It’s early.” The man stood bare chested with his arms over his head in a big stretch and yawn. His brown hair was full and messy. “Can I help you?”

“It’s 8 a.m. You look too old to be at school. What about work?”

“Oh crap, are you with the CPS?” His brows furrowed and framed his crystal blue eyes. “Boys, get your clothes on. It’s time to get to school.”

“CPS?” I asked. “No, I’m Mae West.”

“Yeah and I’m John Wayne.” He cocked a sideways smile that I’d love to have smacked off his face if it weren’t charming.

“According to Dottie’s paper, you must be Ty Randal. I’m Mae West, the owner, and I need to collect your lot fee.” I held the paper out to show him. “In fact, you’re a couple of months late and I’m going to have to mark right here that this is a warning.”

“Whoa.” He put his hands out. “Listen, Mae West,” he strung out my name. “Dottie and I have an agreement. Go on and mark all you want, but it means nothing.”

“The agreements Dottie made aren’t valid because she’s not the owner.” I turned around to face the campground. “Look at this place. It’s because of people not paying their lot rent that it looks like this.”

I wanted to ask about his kids and his wife. I’d bet he laid around all day and made her work.

“You’re the real deal. I heard about a new owner or something.” He gave me the onceover.

“I’d like last month’s rent by the end of the week. If you don’t have it, then consider yourself evicted.” I turned on the toes of my shoes. “And there’ll be a new lease agreements to sign too,” I said over my shoulder and made a note in the file to look up lease agreements when I helped Abby at the library today. Then I saw a few of those pedal boats stacked up next to his camper along with stray balls and a few toys.

“Get all of these things out of here too,” I said and kept going. “I’m trying to make this place presentable for the summer tourists.”

I wasn’t going to say it was easy, but I’d made it to everyone’s camper but Henry’s. He didn’t owe me any money, but he did owe me an explanation to why Detective Hank thinks he could’ve killed Paul.

Henry was outside picking up the pieces of charred wood from the fire pit and throwing them into another lit campfire. He had his kettle hanging overtop the flame.

“Good mornin’,” he greeted me. He gestured to his fire. “Would you like a refill?”

“I’d love one.” I walked over and held my cup out for him as he took the kettle off the fire and filled me up. “This is the best coffee. I had no idea how much better the food tasted last night than regular oven cooked food.”

“Oh, no, that means you’ve got the bug. Once you get bitten by the camping life, you can’t go back.” He smiled and sat down, patting the chair next to him. “Have a seat and tell me what you’ve been doing door-to-door.”

“Dottie gave me the list of campers and what they owe. I can’t believe they’d not paid. Some have been months.” I sipped on the coffee. “If I can get the money out of them, that’d be enough to fix something around here.”

My list of to-dos had grown and all of them were number one, so I’d just made a list of do’s and hoping to cross some of those off.

“I saw you over at Ty Randal’s camper. That boy’s tougher than the back end of a shootin’ gallery.”

I cocked a brow and wondered if Abby could also get me a dummy’s book for Henry’s language. What did he actually mean by what he said about Ty? Was Ty mean? Someone I didn’t want to make mad?

“What’s on your list?” He asked.

“I’d like to get the lake cleaned up because in order to host a fundraiser, the lake is the big draw for everyone to gather around. Then the dock and maybe get a few fish to stock it,” I said as I put the comment about Ty out of my head.

“That’s big order and a costly one,” Henry responded.

I’d have to use his expertise on what the cost would be.

“You’re looking at five-thousand dollars per acre to get it stocked. It’s a five-acre pond all the way around.” He used his hand to make a circle.

“Gosh. That much?” I questioned. He nodded. “Maybe we can just have the fundraiser with music from some of the campers and food. So maybe we can just clean the lake and fix up the tiki bar.”

“You’re lookin’ at about one-thousand dollars if you use Alvin Deters down at the Seed-N-Feed.” He gave a little more reasonable number which I figured I could just use some of that sock money.

“Alvin Deters.” I wrote down his name in my file. “Good to know.”

“I can get some things together to help fix up the tiki bar. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be sturdy enough for a one-night fundraiser,” Henry said.

“Henry,” I scooted up on the edge of the seat. “Can I ask you why you gave Paul your savings to invest?”

“You know about that?” He asked.

“My lawyer gave me a list of people Paul scammed and you were on there.” I wondered if he was going to tell me.

Two police cars pulled into the campground.

“Scammed? He swindled me out of the money,” he responded sharply, abandoning all pretenses and watched as the police cars pulled up to the crime scene. They’d not taken down the crime scene tape and we were careful to not go near it last night during the campfire supper.

“He told me that if I gave him the money, he’d see to it that part of this campground was mine one day. We’d be partners, he’d said. Since I lived here, and he didn’t, I could be the silent partner and he’d funnel me the money.” There was a look of disgust that drew across this face as his nostrils flared when he turned back to look at me. “It disgusts me. Do you know how hard it is to save two-thousand dollars?”

I was finding out real fast just how hard it was.

“I’m not young and I’ve got nothing. The past few months, I was so happy thinking that I was going to retire with something. Part of this park. Then the FBI showed up here and told me the news. I hate that SOB.” He spit on the ground. “I’m sorry, Mae. I shouldn’t’ve spit that way. Not good to do in front of a lady.”

“You’re fine.” I shook my head. “Henry, did you see Paul when he showed up here the other day?”

“Hank asked me the same thing. I remember when he was knee-high to a grasshopper running around here with his grandfather. We were friends you know, me and his grandfather.” He looked out over the lake.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I pushed him.

“Like I told him, his grandfather is rolling over in his grave at the way Hank is actin’. We are all one and we look out for each other around here. Now, I’ve got to get to work on that tiki bar.” He got up and walked away, leaving me standing there without a clear answer to my question.

Beep, beep!

The sound of the horn and the gravel spitting up underneath tires took my attention away from Henry.

Betts Hager was wildly waving at me with a big grin on her face. I gestured her to go to my camper. I needed to get my purse and a few things to take with me. I nearly fell over my own feet as I rubber-necked across the lake looking at the crime scene to see what the police were doing. A couple of them just stared at me while the other two seemed to be scouring the scene for more evidence. 

“I can’t believe it’s already ten,” I said to her when I met her down at my RV. “Let me put this in the camper and grab something. I’ll be right out.”

I hurried in and put the file on the table but took the piece of paper that I’d stuck in my purse where I’d been making my notes and lifted the mattress off the bed.  I grabbed Paul’s sock with the money in it and took out a few thousand, putting that into my bag too.

“Sorry about that. I had to put my file up and you won’t believe the people who owe money who live here,” I said as I hoisted myself up into her mini-van.

“Yes, I would.” She agreed. “Dottie is a sucker for a sad story and I’d heard that Paul was going to give her the boot as the manager.”

“How did you know that?” I asked.

“Mae, Normal is a very small town. Gossip spreads around here like wildfire. Sometimes I get cleaning jobs with the rich ladies in town, I never know what I’m going to hear.” She pulled the shift in gear and took off towards town.

“Cleaning jobs?” I asked.

“I clean houses on the side. Especially the elderly from the church. It’s a hot commodity around here.” She looked over her shoulder. “Look back there.”

I did.

“I don’t have children. I have this mini-van to carry all my cleaning supplies.” She had a lead foot and before she even finished her story about how she had to help supplement her and her husband’s income because being a preacher didn’t pay much. “Well, not much in Normal.” She wagged her finger. “You know all them people you were saying didn’t pay their lot fee, they don’t tithe either. But they’re the first ones asking for a handout from the church and God love Lester. He’d give the clothes off his back for these people.”

“Lester?” I questioned.

“Lester, my husband. Your preacher.” She gripped the wheel and turned on to Main Street.

“I don’t go to church.” I wanted to establish that right off.

“You will,” she said with the up most of confidence. “We are here at the second-hand store. There’s some really good deals in here. You said something about a beach party themed fundraiser and there were some things I saw in here a few days ago that’d be perfect.”

“After we leave here and before you take me to the library, do you think we can stop by the Seed-N-Feed?” I asked.

“I sure can.” She nodded and jerked the wheel, parking the van in front of a store called the Tough Nickel. “It’s right there next to the shop we are going into and,” she pointed out the windshield ahead of us. “The library is over there and there’s a diner over there, plus The Laundry Club is just around the corner.” She turned to look at me. “Didn’t you see all this stuff when you were doing laundry?”

“You know, I hate to say it, but I was just trying to get some clean clothes and used my GPS to take me there. I didn’t pay much attention to anything other than parking the RV.” I looked out the window.

“It’s a great little town. We do what we can to keep it clean and desirable just in case we get new residents, like yourself.” She clapped her hands in her lap. “Listen, I’m sure we are about the same age or at least in the same age range. When Lester told me that he was thinking on taking a pastoring position in Normal, Kentucky, I was so upset. Of course, Normal wasn’t the ideal church we wanted, but I opened my heart and I can’t imagine anywhere I’d rather be.” She smiled. “When or if we do have children, I think Normal will be the perfect place to raise them.”

“I just never imagined even a week ago that I’d be here. Not that I’m better than anyone, it’s just that there’s not even a place to work out.” Like I’d ever worked out. I truly wanted to say a makeup counter, but I’m sure the local drug store had something.

“Yes. Queenie teaches Jazzercise in the church’s undercroft. It’s a lot of fun. You’re going to love it.” She pulled the keys from the ignition. “I’m sure you’re wanting to fix up the campground just enough for you to sell it, but I’m just asking that you keep your heart open. I think you’re going to be surprised.”

Betts didn’t give me a chance to deny her claim, though it was true. It’s not that I didn’t like Normal, it just wasn’t my normal and I wasn’t even sure what my normal was. But I was going to fix the place up and let the residents live in a place they can call home and make sure they didn’t skimp out on the rent. I would sell the place and leave the campground in much better shape then I’d found it. That much I knew for sure.

“I don’t have a timeframe. I just want to give the people back their homes. I want tourists to come back and stay at the campground.” I got out and stood on the sidewalk and took notice that the town was exactly like one of those small towns you’d see on TV. “How charming.” I pointed to the median in the middle of the street.

 “We gather here a lot on Sunday afternoon after church for impromptu picnics.” There was a twinkle in her eye. “No matter what this town has gone through, we have always come together. Now, you can come and see what it’s all about.”

“Sounds good.” I got the distinct impression that Betts could tell that I wasn’t planting any sort of roots in Normal.

“I thought we’d stop by the Tough Nickel Thrift Shop because they have some really great lights I think you can use. Plus, if you bat your eyes at Buck, he just might give you a bigger discount.” She blinked several times and laughed again.

 “I’d like to stop in at the Feed-N-Seed to see about some sod for around the lake,” I told her while we walked to our destination and headed into the building.

I was charmed by the old chippy buildings. Instead of having big signs, there were small wooden and hand painted signs with the names of the shops.

“Yesterday while I was trying to find a place to park the RV, I looked around, but walking the street makes the town seem so charming. I bet it’s beautiful here at night.” I was going to make it a point to come down here.

“It’s a sweet town and it will charm the pants right off you.” She pointed our way to the front door of the Tough Nickel. “Cute store too. Smile.” She pointed her phone at me and took a photo. “Hashtag Mae West is fixing up hashtag Happy Trails Campground.”

“You too?” I laughed and pulled the door of the shop open.

“Abby told me to make sure I put some stuff on social media.” She walked in before me.

Inside, the building was just as cute as the outside.

“People I know pay a lot of money to have brick exposed walls.” I twirled around and looked.

Every wall was brick and not covered. The hardwood floors were in great shape with large oriental rugs laid all over in no particular order. There were big pieces of antique furniture and some art pieces.

“There’s no way I can afford anything in here.” I said and checked the price tag of a topiary tree as we walked in.

“Buck! Youuuuhooooouuu!” Betts called out. “We are going to the attic.”

“Betts.” An older man with coal black hair, and a tall slender frame came from a different direction. “Who’s your friend?”

“Mae West, she’s the new owner of Happy Trails. And I think I saw some really cute party lights up in the attic. Mae is going to fix up the campground and she’s going to have a fund raiser.” Betts patted his shoulder. “It’s going to be so good for the community to have that up and running again. I know Lester and I are excited to grow our congregation. And I’m sure we can count on you to be there with an open wallet.”

Wow, I thought as Betts just went on and on. She was good because before I could finish my thought, and before I could bat my eyes, which I was looking forward to, Buck had already agreed for me to take what I needed.

“My donation.” He gestured to the stairs. “You know your way and if you need something, I’m in the back re-staining an old chest we got from an estate sale. Just holler.”

“Thank you,” I said and put my hand out to seal the deal.

“Mae West,” He dragged me into a bear hug. “Don’t you know we hug around here. Especially now that you’re a new citizen.”

“I heard.” I grinned and returned the hug.

“Now that we got that out of the way, welcome to Normal. Now, what do you know about that murder out there?” He crossed his arms

“It was my ex-husband. He escaped from prison and someone killed him.” I blurted out.

“On second thought, I’ll come up stairs with you.” His brows narrowed. “You were married to Paul West? He was a bad guy.”

“We can go up. You go on back and finish that staining.” Betts’s voice cracked.

“Nope. He’s a crook and she might be too.” Buck shook a finger at me.

“She’s not a crook. Are you?” Betts’s face grew serious.

“Of course, I’m not. I had no idea Paul even owned Happy Trails. Nor did I know that he was scheming everyone we knew and some people we loved.” I could tell by Betts’s fidgeting, that I shouldn’t have opened my mouth so much about the murder.

“You didn’t kill him? He questioned. “I mean, everyone around town said that you were here, but I didn’t put two-and-two together. My noggin’ isn’t as good as it used to be putting things together. I’m not saying you didn’t have good cause, but I am saying that we’ve been doing just fine before you stepped foot here.”

“You know what,” Betts patted the air. “I’ll come back for the lights. Mae has to get to the library. They hired her part time.”

She jerked me by my elbow and dragged me out of the shop.

“What are you doing? Trying to get run out of town?” She huffed and puffed. “People around here are very protective of each other and you have to gain their trust.”

“It’s not like he wasn’t going to find that out. Paul and I have the same last name.” It didn’t take Detective Hank to go around telling everyone for them to figure out that the man who’d apparently taken this entire town for granted, wife was in town and living here. “Paul did me just as bad as he did everyone else.”

“Just so you know, Buck is going to be on the phone with every store owner now. The news of you running around gathering things for the fundraiser is going to be all over town before you get home tonight.” she said.

There was a man standing under the Deters Feed-N-Seed sign. He put his hands on his hips and looked left and then right, staring at us.

“Or the news is going to spread faster than we can get to the Seed-N-Feed.” She nodded her head at the man. “That’s Alvin Deters. And by the glare on his face, he knows exactly who you are.”

The closer we got to Alvin, the more I could see the disgust on his face had extended to the lines around his mouth.  His eyes narrowed more and more the closer we got. My inner voice told me that it had to do with who I was and how I was related to the man who’d obviously done more damage to the town than just let Happy Trails go downhill. 

Alvin had a big cowboy hat pulled way down over his brows. There was no denying he owned the right store, anything dealing with farming equipment and outside. His blue jeans, plaid shirt, cowboy boots and big silver belt screamed it. 

“Betts.” He gave her one of those good ole Baptist nods that I’d seen plenty times when I lived in Kentucky. “You must be Paul West’s wife.” He dragged his hat off of his head exposing a light brown head of hair. “I might be in my fifties, but I always do what my mama told me to do. Be nice to the lady and I’m gonna do that,” he spoke right to me, “but I can’t say I’m happy about you being here and trying to make good on his debts or even cover up you killing him.”

“Mr. Deters,” I cleared my throat, “I’m sorry if that’s the impression you got of why I’m here. In all honesty, I was coming here to take a little vacation because I’d gotten the impression this was a vacation spot, not what it truly is.” I decided to leave out my colorful wording of the campground. “I didn’t know about Happy Trails or Normal until a couple of days ago. I do feel bad and I am going to make it good. I’m not my husband. I’m Mae West.” I sucked in a deep breath and pulled my shoulders back. “And I didn’t kill him. I’m not going to lie and say that it’d never crossed my mind over the past few months, but I could never bring myself to do anything like that to anyone, no matter what they’d done to me or anyone else.”

He shifted his eyes from me to Betts.

“Now, I’ve come here because I need some help bringing the place back to life for a fundraiser, so I can help put people’s lives back to together.” I couldn’t bring myself to even think about how he and everyone else in the town had obviously thought I was there to take them for more money and that I’d killed Paul. I had to get this fundraiser moving. “From what I hear, you’re the man to see about cleaning up a lake and possibly getting some sod. My problem is that I don’t have any money.”

“Why should I help you when I don’t trust you?” He slowly brought his hat back up to his head and placed it on.

“Mr. Deters,” It appeared I had to go into much greater detail than I’d already done. “ I had no idea my ex-husband was swindling people out of their retirement and livelihood. He got me too. I’m here on good faith to make the campground a better place for not only the residents who call it home, but for those who want to come to Normal as tourists like they used to. From what I’d gathered on the brochure, Normal was a big spot for antiquing and campers during the festivals.”

I stood there begging my case because he was the only person in town that could help me fix the lake and stock it, not to mention the sod. Betts quickly dismissed herself. It must be nice being a preacher’s wife and having God as a good excuse to leave, while I was there stuck in the fire of you know where.

“I don’t know. You come in here and don’t have a dime, asking for credit. From what I remember, your husband,” he started to say.

“Ex,” I corrected him.

“Your ex-husband came into the diner down there and tried to sell us the same song and dance you’re selling. I’m gonna fix up the campground, he said. I’m gonna bring back your retirement, just give me what you’ve got and I’ll turn this town back around. Do you know them Randal boys have nothing?” He glared at me.

“Randal boys?” The image of the Randal man I met with his shirt off was still vivid in my mind.

“Yeah. Ty lives in the campground raising his brothers because his mama died of cancer and when your ex-husband,” Alvin was good at exaggerating ex-husband, “had taken their poor old daddy for all his money, he went into a heart attack and damn near died. He’s all laid up in the county nursing home trying to learn to feed himself again. Now Ty had to move back to Normal from his big city life to come here and keep the diner open and raise his brothers.”

“I didn’t know that.” My mouth dried because any saliva found its way into my tear ducts. I bit back the urge to cry. “Paul did some very bad things, but I’m not going to do that.”

“You’re more than welcome to go to the bank and see if they’ll give you credit to come back in here and purchase what you need. As for giving you anything until you can pay me back from some funds of the fundraiser, I just can’t do that.” His eyes bore into me.

“I don’t blame you.” I nodded and realized this was going to take a lot more than batting eyes for the citizens of Normal to forgive me. “I’ll go to the bank. Can you tell me where that diner is?”

“Across the street and a few doors down.” He crossed his arms over his chest. The tense jaw never relaxed.

“Thank you for your time,” I said softly and excused myself from the store.